100 Mile Smoke: Daddy Joe's Beach House BBQ & Grill

April: A shopping trip to the Outlet Stores in Gaffney, SC took us to Daddy Joe's Beach House off Exit 92 from I-85. There is a large billboard on the Interstate advertising this restaurant. It lived up to some of the hype. It is a very quirky restaurant with a beach house feel in the middle of the upstate. We started with sweet tea that was very good and a rib appetizer. There were 4 LARGE spare ribs served with a light sauce and heavy dry seasoning. They were perfectly smoked and very good. Our combo plate of smoked chicken and chopped pork was delivered with side of wedge fries and BBQ slaw. The chopped pork was surprisingly more the consistency of pulled pork, which I prefer. It had a good flavor and though it was served sauced, it was light and added to the pork flavor, not covering it up. It did not contain enough bark for my taste and was not otherwise outstanding. The chicken was covered in a thick and sweet sauce that did nothing for my taste buds. It tasted like grocery store bottled sauce and just overpowered the chicken. I was impressed by the fries. Normally not one to sacrifice calories on french fries, I let Lane pick this part of the combo. The wedge fries are crinkle cut and were very tasty. Our side of BBQ slaw was also very good. After my last few attempts at BBQ slaw, I am a little hesitant about ordering it. Too much vinegar can ruin the whole meal (see review for 521 BBQ). This slaw was great. The hushpuppies were nice and gritty with plenty of cornmeal taste and the extra side of smoked/grilled kielbasa was fantastic. I think the same dry rub spices used on the ribs went onto the sausage and made it really pop. We polished off this meal with a bowl of homemade apple cobbler and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I was too full to eat much, but what I did taste was very good. Definitely homemade and definitely enough to share.

One last thing to mention, all of this food and drinks barely came to $30. I was impressed because Lane just kept ordering food and since I had not memorized the prices on the menu, I had no idea what it was going to come to. Good thing about BBQ is that it is affordable!

Lane: Spending much of my childhood on the beaches of Edisto Island and some of my early college years in Spartanburg, I really don’t know what to make of a “beach house” in Gaffney. Maybe something with faux driftwood painted in bright pinks and blues, alluding to some tropical Jimmy Buffet get-a-way coupled with dear heads and license plates paying homage to Gaffney’s land locked state as the city is nestled fundamentally between I-85 and I-26 was what I was expecting. Actually it was exactly what I got. I thought the Kielbasa “smoked sausage” was great. It was seasoned like the ribs were and was served with yellow mustard. It had a crunchy texture aided by the sea salt and crushed black pepper and the crusty bark of roasted casing. The links were very tasty and quite warm in comparison to the cue. I thought the ribs were better than the cue. The recipe described them a “St. Louis style” but truthfully these ribs were good, had a good outer bark a woody savory flavor, and a deep, spicy, smoky aroma that made me oh so hungry. These ribs were very rich and tasty, not too bitter, not too salty, and very, very savory. To me the pulled chicken and chopped BBQ was just ok. The color and texture of the meat was fine but the sauces on both were both overly spicy and sweet, which took away from the meat’s great smoky flavor. Unfortunately the overhead fan was on and a slight breeze cooled the cue and chicken so quickly that I only had a few bites that weren’t cold. I really liked the BBQ slaw and the wedge fries. I agree with April that this was a great place to eat.